Ronnie O'Sullivan insisted he is treated unfairly by some officials as he crashed out of the World Snooker Championship.

The seven-time champion lost 13-10 to Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals at the Crucible, during which he clashed twice with referee Desislava Bozhilova.

The first came when the world number one had been 6-5 up against Bingham and had just potted the black as he chased down his opponent by making the score 43-29 in the 12th frame.

But as referee Bozhilova tried to put the black back on the table, the spot had been marked and the ball would not stay in the right position.

It led to some remonstrations from O'Sullivan, who complained that the ball was not in the right place before hitting a safety shot in what was described as 'one of the greatest bits of sportsmanship ever' as Bingham took the frame.

A bizarre moment then came in the evening session when O'Sullivan stopped playing as fans poured in at the Crucible, causing the Wordsley-born star to lose his cool.

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He sat down while complaining to the referee, who was ushering people back to their seats from her position next to the table.

After the door was closed and fans stopped coming in, O'Sullivan was clearly unhappy as the referee spoke to him, to which he replied by gesturing his hand telling her to 'chill'.

Bozhilova dealt with the situation well and replied: "I am chill."

Before the evening session got under way, O'Sullivan was interviewed about the first incident regarding the black ball and suggested that he is not always treated fairly.

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"Some of the referees, I think they’ve got it in for me, so I wanted to prove to her she’s got it wrong," he said.

"Then I didn’t feel good about having to pot the ball after that. I just wanted to make the point and the point was made.

"I’m not that hungry to win in that way. I’m more of a principles person, so once the principle’s been made, I can sleep at night."

While O'Sullivan was praised for his sportsmanship, he also met criticism from fans on social media for his public berating of the referee during the match.

Bozhilova had to deal with a tricky situation placing the black ball on the spot, which had clearly been affected over the course of the game.

The referee even told O'Sullivan she was happy to re-spot the ball after a request was made by the 48-year-old.

Speaking on commentary at the time of the incident, 2010 world champion Neil Robertson said: "He played safe even though he could pot the red. It's unbelievable.

"This is probably one of the greatest bits of sportsmanship I have ever seen in any sport. That's incredible.

"I've never seen anything like that before."

Asked about the incidents after the match, O'Sullivan changed his tune, insisting: "I won't be commenting on players or referees, it's not worth it.

"I'll keep silent on that sort of stuff. I won't comment on players and I won't comment on referees. I just leave it as it is. My life's too good and I don't need the hassle."

Meanwhile, Bingham, who entered the tournament in real danger of dropping out of the world's top 32, relished his chance to join the illustrious list of multiple world champions after sealing an unlikely last-four clash with fellow qualifier Jak Jones.

"Everyone will be looking at the draw thinking, 'this is my chance to be world champion'," said the 2015 champion.

"I can't take anything for granted and though I'm the only one (left) to have got my hands on that trophy, I don't know if it'll count for much.

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"It would mean everything. There aren't many people who have won it twice and it would maybe mean more second time around, because the first time it was all new, but I've got the chance to actually do it again.

"The last two seasons have not been great. I was out of the top 32 and I played with no expectations. I've gone toe to toe with the best player ever and I've come out on top."